Caesar’s Palace, The Venetian and Bellagio

December 10th, 2006 Sheila Simkin

Part of the fun was walking into every deluxe hotel (and some not so deluxe) on the Strip and eyeing the buffets, Christmas decorations and people. I’ve heard the catchphrase…”what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”…but we primarily saw families with children, and couples walking around. And it seemed as if most of the people were either speaking Spanish, Chinese or Japanese. Lots and lots of foreign visitors and each one talking photos.

In the late ’70’s and early ’80’s, the Riviera Hotel was our home-away-from-home and we even attended a wedding at the Candlelight Chapel across the street from the Riviera. This is what the Candlelight Chapel looks like now with graffiti all over it…and the Riviera had added on so many times that it was unrecognizable…

Candlelight Chapel, Las Vegas

Stopped to look at Harrah’s buffet since we had another 2-for-1 good on any meal. (Lunch served 11:00am-4:00pm, $16.99; Dinner served from 4:00pm-10pm, $21.99.) The buffet looked fine but decided to keep going to The Venetian…View image… and Bellagio before making a decision.

The Venetian gondolas, Las Vegas

Literally moving along on escalators into Caesar’s Palace where Toni sweet-talked us into visiting their timeshare for $75 cash. If you decide to do this, negotiate with them. First, Toni offered a show and dinner – not interested. Second, a free 3-night stay if you return to Las Vegas within the next year. Still not interested. Third, how about a $75 VISA debit card and $50 discount at any Marriott in the world. NOW, we’re talking. Scheduled a 9:00am visit for the next day and continued on. Not only does Las Vegas have every fast-food restaurant imaginable but the famous chains too. Lawry’s Prime Rib, The Palm, several Lettuce Entertainment You restaurants, Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, McCormick & Schmick’s, P.F. Chang’s are just a few of the recognizable names. Our biggest decision every day was where and what did we want to eat.

In Bellagio, we decided to fork out the dough for their Lunch/Dinner Buffet at $18.95 per person because quite a few persons had told us how great it was, and sat down without looking it over first. ex-Marine went to examine and came back with…”Sheila, it doesn’t look any better than the one at Harrah’s”… With that, we left the table, got a refund (they were very nice) and walked back to Harrah’s. First, admiring the glass ceiling flowers in Bellagio’s reception area.